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Cactus vs Tree - What's the difference?

cactus | tree |

As nouns the difference between cactus and tree

is that cactus is while tree is a large plant, not exactly defined, but typically over four meters in height, a single trunk which grows in girth with age and branches (which also grow in circumference with age).

As a verb tree is

to chase (an animal or person) up a tree.

cactus

English

Noun

  • (botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
  • Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, including euphorbs.
  • Usage notes

    In modern English, the term cactus' properly refers to plants belonging to the family Cactaceae. With one exception, all are native to the New World (the Americas). The sole exception is , a jungle epiphyte found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, as well as North and South America. Informally, '''cactus is used to refer to any stem ''succulent'' adapted to a dry climate, notably species from genus ''Euphorbia with forms reminiscent of Cactaceae. To be precise, these succulents are correctly described as "cactoid" or "cactiform" unless they are actual members of the Cactaceae.

    Hypernyms

    * (member of Cactaceae) succulent

    Hyponyms

    * (member of Cactaceae) nopal, saguaro

    Derived terms

    * barrel cactus * beehive cactus * bird's nest cactus * cactus cat * cactuslike * cactus wren * compass cactus * crown cactus * dumpling cactus * feather cactus * finger cactus * fishhook cactus * foxtail cactus * hedgehog cactus * horse crippler cactus * ladyfinger cactus * mistletoe cactus * nipple cactus * noncactus * old lady cactus * orchid cactus * organ pipe cactus * pencil cactus * Rainbow cactus * rattail cactus * strawberry cactus * thimble cactus * willow cactus, willow-cactus

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (Australia, NZ, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted.
  • * {{quote-newsgroup, title=TV Problems
  • , group=aus.electronics , author=Dave , date=July 8 , year=2001 , passage=I wouldn't mind throwing it away if it's cactus except for the VCR part which works fine, so then I'd be up for a new VCR as well. citation
  • * {{quote-newsgroup, title=water damage ???
  • , group=alt.cellular.nokia , author=AC , date=August 25 , year=2004 , passage=I would say it's cactus . Water conducts & destroys components & PCBs very easily. Hence the water-resistant phones. citation
  • * 2009 , Will Chaffey, Swimming with Crocodiles: An Australian Adventure , page 108,
  • ‘It?s cactus ,’ Rod, the helicopter pilot, said at the sound of the piston ring shattering.

    See also

    * succulent * (Cactus) * English nouns with irregular plurals ----

    tree

    English

    {{ picdic , image=Birnbaum am Lerchenberg retouched.jpg , text=tree (1) , detail1= , detail3= }}

    Noun

    (en-noun) (plural "treen" is obsolete)
  • A large plant, not exactly defined, but typically over four meters in height, a single trunk which grows in girth with age and branches (which also grow in circumference with age).
  • is the tallest living tree in the world.
    Birds have a nest in a tree in the garden.
  • Any plant that is reminiscent of the above but not classified as a tree in the strict botanical sense: for example the banana "tree".
  • An object made from a tree trunk and having multiple hooks]] or storage [[platform, platforms.
  • He had the choice of buying a scratching post or a cat tree .
  • A device used to hold or stretch a shoe open.
  • He put a shoe tree in each of his shoes.
  • The structural frame of a saddle.
  • (graph theory) A connected graph with no cycles or, equivalently, a connected graph with n'' vertices and ''n -1 edges.
  • (computing theory) A recursive data structure in which each node has zero or more nodes as children.
  • (graphical user interface) A display or listing of entries or elements such that there are primary and secondary entries shown, usually linked by drawn lines or by indenting to the right.
  • We’ll show it as a tree list.
  • Any structure or construct having branches akin to (1).
  • The structure or wooden frame used in the construction of a saddle used in horse riding.
  • (informal) Marijuana.
  • (obsolete) A cross or gallows.
  • Tyburn tree
  • * Bible, Acts x. 39
  • [Jesus] whom they slew and hanged on a tree .
  • (obsolete) wood; timber
  • * Wyclif Bible (2 Tim. ii. 20)
  • In a great house ben not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of tree and of earth.
  • (chemistry) A mass of crystals, aggregated in arborescent forms, obtained by precipitation of a metal from solution.
  • Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Proverbs

    * *

    Hypernyms

    * plant * (in graph theory) graph

    Hyponyms

    * oak, fir, pine * see also:

    Synonyms

    * sapling, seedling

    See also

    * * arboreal

    Verb

    (d)
  • To chase (an animal or person) up a tree.
  • The dog treed the cat.
  • To place upon a tree; to fit with a tree; to stretch upon a tree.
  • to tree a boot

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----